136 



OLAFSEN AND POVELSEN's 



which inundated the plain, and carrying off all the grass, tram- 

 formed it into a desert. This devastation took place about the 

 year 900, and the Landnama-saga speaks of it as a supernatural 

 event: since that time the river has become large and deep 

 enough to convey the masses of ice from the glacier; and it is 

 uow one of the principal rivers of the country. 



FURTHER REMARKS GN BLOOD IN THE SEA. 



Tn.lS'3S, but at what period of the year is not mentioned, the 

 fishermen on the eastern coast perceived blood coagulated in the 

 sea, which was driven by the tide in oblong heaps upon the shore. 

 We mention this circumstance that it may be compared with 

 the detail we have already given. It is likewise certain, that 

 when whales meet and tight in the sea, and particularly- when 

 they are pursued by hundreds of harpooncrs, the sea becomes 

 tinged with red to the extent of several leagues round ; hence 

 this may be a natural cause of the phenomenon alluded to. 



SOUTHERN QUARTER. 

 Our travellers inform us that during the time they travelled, 

 they made the isle of Videy, in this quarter, their habitual winter 



residence. 



JOURNEY TO MOUNT HECLA. 



M. E. Olafsen, who published at Copenhagen a dissertation 

 on the natural state of Iceland, embarked from the above- 

 mentioned isle, in a merchant ship which was proceeding to the 

 isles of Vestmannoer; where, in company with M. Povelsen, he 

 undertook a journey to mount Hecla. 



This mountain, which is better known to strangers than any 

 other, is one of the inferior elevations of Iceland. The annals 

 call it by its proper name, which is Heklufiall; from which fo- 

 reigners, and particularly the Germans, have formed their Hec- 

 kenfeld. It is not a promontory, nor is it situated on the 

 sea shore, as it has been represented in a number of charts. It 

 lies to the west of the glacier of Thmallojceckel : and now beyond 

 the canton of Rangaarvalle, though it was formerly within this 

 canton ; but its numerous eruptions have so ravaged the sur- 

 rounding country, that the people have withdrawn from it. 



On arriving at a habitation called Selsund, near mount Hecla, 

 the owner wished to become our guide. He was well acquainted 

 with the country around this mountain, though he had never tra- 

 velled farther than its base; for the people consider it as an act 

 ©f rashness to attempt to examine the mountain, and they assured 

 us that it w ould be impossible to ascend it on account of great 

 numbers of dangerous bogs, which they asserted were always 



